Her brand-new motherhood suits Audra McDonald just fine. The voice is
deeper, broader, stronger. Her splendid attributes are unchanged:
diction, charm, presence... in the music, on stage.
All of this was in delightful evidence tonight as she sang in Davies Hall,
at the opening gala of the San Francisco Symphony's 2001-'02 season.
Michael Tilson Thomas' all-American program called for the soprano to do
a set of five "Ellington favorites" (some by him, others associated with
him), an MTT song, "If I Were a Bell," from "Guys and Dolls," and a grandly
produced "Fascinating Rhythm."
The Ellington set consisted of "Solitude," "Sophisticated Lady," "On
a Turquoise Cloud," "Diga Diga Doo" and "It Don't Mean a Thing." Leaving
the more structured days of Edo de Waart and Herbert Blomstedt way behind,
the concert involved singing by the orchestra, audience participation, MTT
playing the kazoo - and orchestral works by Adams, Gershwin and Bernstein.
And, of course, "The Star-Spangled Banner."
A startling (but pleasant) novelty of the evening was the orchestra
standing for the entrance of the new concertmaster, Alexander Barantschik
getting the kind of treatment on his first appearance I have seen only a
couple of times, when orchestra leaders (elsewhere) played their last
concert after decades of service.
Janos Gereben/SF
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